Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: Set a little bit further from where the manga left off at. When Levi sends Eren and Mikasa on a reconnaissance mission of sorts, they come across an artifact from an age lost. And through it, and the time they spend together, Mikasa and Eren come to a better place in their friendship, and find even more hope for humanity's future. Short and sweet EreMika, if you squint.


**Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder**

"So why are we trekking up this mountain again?" Mikasa asked, as she turned to look at Eren. She was fairly certain that she was talking weirdly for herself—being more forthcoming with her words, even, from having spent time around Armin and his books—but Eren didn't seem to notice.

Instead, the gray-eyed teen just gave a shrug and eyed Mikasa up with the unseeing eyes that she both hated and adored. "Your guess is as good as mine, Mikasa. But if Corporal Levi sent us up here—knowing full well how easily we can become Titan fonder in these parts—he must have had a good reason."

Mikasa didn't know how much she bought into that sentiment, exactly. She still remembered too well the time he'd nearly beaten Eren to a pulp, and the time that he had kept her from securing him from Annie.

And even beyond that, there was the fact that she knew Eren was terrified of the man and would often do exactly what he wanted, just so he wouldn't get another beating.

And if that right there wasn't enough incentive for Mikasa to want to kill Levi many times over, she didn't know what was.

He'd also been harsh with Armin, too, she knew; harsh with him about the guilt he felt for saving Jean from-

"Anyway," Eren said abruptly, interrupting Mikasa's thoughts as he sprinted ahead of her and went up the pitiful hill. "This place is interesting, don't you think, Mikasa? Sure it's rather miniature, and it can hardly be called a mountain if we can walk up it like this, but it's still towering over the rest of this place.

"And look at this clay here! Armin made it sound as though plateaus like this could only be craggy, and crafted from rocks, but this place seems to be rebelling against the norm! And if that's not a good sign of things to come, I don't know what is!"

"Eren…" Mikasa countered him hesitantly; she didn't exactly want to ruin his happiness. Eren had been dreaming about getting outside the walls and seeing the world his entire life, after all, and for that very reason…

Mikasa knew that she'd be doing him a huge disservice if she rained on his parade now. More likely than not, she would just end up breaking his heart, if she continued on with her current rain of thoughts, but what else was she to do?

Setting their supplies down—and making sure that her 3D maneuver gear was armed completely, in case they needed to make use of the convenient mountain they were on to instigate a battle—Mikasa spoke what was on her mind: "I know you're… ecstatic to be here. That's understandable, and all of this is even more than I ever expected, but… we should remain cautious. This place reminds me a bit too much of the tower that the others were locked in when it was revealed that Ymir can change into a Titan."

Ymir… Mikasa still didn't know how to feel about her, exactly. She wanted to have faith in her for Historia's sake, as she was only a shell of a person without her, but she just didn't know.

"But that's why it's so great, Mikasa!" Eren exclaimed infectiously, crossing over to where his friend stood and moving to put his hands atop her shoulders.

And at that, Mikasa couldn't help but blush and want to move away before she did something stupid. It wasn't just that Eren was holding her in the way she'd always dreamt of him doing, but rather that he was looking at her with a kind expression in his eyes that she hadn't seen in him since a few days before his mother died, when they'd all been having fun as a family.

Maybe… until this moment, Eren had been unable to look at her the way he did the others, like Armin, Mikasa thought. Maybe just being around her allowed him to remember his worst memory too vividly.

But now, for whatever the reason, he was again being the crazy dreamer that Mikasa had once wanted to indulge more than she probably should have. And if she had to kill a million Titans to keep that purpose within Eren, Mikasa knew she would do it in a heartbeat.

"Why is it great, Eren?" Mikasa forced the words out, only after noting there'd been a considerable lull in the conversation and that Eren was looking at her expectantly.

"Because you're right; this place is sort of like that tower, but a million times better. It's open. It's free! And what are the chances we would have ever found something like this before we joined the Survey Corps? It's like- it's like after everything we've lost and sacrificed, the planet finally wants us to fight back, in this place that was originally ours to begin with!"

"I hadn't— I hadn't thought about it like that," Mikasa admitted the moment Eren strode away from her to create a fire, patting her on the arm before he did so. And maybe it was the cold and darkness of the night that made that gesture seem particularly warm and thoughtful to Mikasa, but it did seem to burn a sort of fire within her soul.

No, she amended, thoughtfully. It was like the scalding flesh Eren exerted whenever he turned into his Titan form, wasn't it? The skin he bore whenever he acted to save her these days.

She smiled at the thought.

"I think you're right, though, Eren," Mikasa announced with conviction. Dropping to the ground beside him—she knew she was getting clay all over her clothes, but she barely gave it a passing thought—Mikasa began fishing through the duffel bag they'd brought with them for something to eat, when she continued:

"Things have— things _have_been going well for us lately. We have more Titan Shifters than Annie within our grasp now, and Historia might rise to power and give us the secrets of the Wall Cult any day now So maybe— maybe it is our time. Maybe the earth _does_ want us to fight back now, now that we know what we're doing. Maybe it has all along…"

There was something in Eren's eyes as he turned to look at Mikasa. The firelight, as well as the light from the moon and stars, served to make his eyes almost green and lustrous in color. He looked like he did when he was in his Titan form, Mikasa realized with a start. But somehow she got the sense that that was the way it was meant to be.

Greens and browns… they were always meant to go together, weren't they? Before the Titans destroyed everything with their massive feet, anyway, and forced the humans to barricade themselves behind Walls.

So in that… maybe it was only fitting that Eren's eyes gleamed like a forest, near this red/brown-encrusted ground. Maybe…

"Hey, Mikasa…" Eren began with an oddly casual cadence to his voice. Mikasa looked at him curiously, and reclined on her hands to see him better, but only to immediately move in a defensive stance, when she noted his eyes bulge and his lips move to form a warning.

Pulling her blades into her hands at once, as she tried to think of how she might get the aerial advantage if a Titan _had_ come after them—she had to protect Eren at all costs—Mikasa noted a strange spark of violet in her peripheral vision, and then Eren was moving.

Mikasa called out to him, but Eren was all ready charging out in front of her—using his maneuver gear to traverse up the tree where she had just seen the abomination. And before she could move to do anything to help, Eren was in contact with the anomaly—forcing Mikasa to wait in dreaded anticipation.

Seconds ticked by after that for what felt like an eternity—all the while Mikasa wondered if somehow there were other types of Titans in the world with hair all the colors of the rainbow—and finally Eren leaped down from where he'd been stationed. His gear buzzing effectively—as if to tell her that he was fine, and that it was ready to protect him at a moment's notice—all the while.

In Eren's hands was a massive net, the likes of which Mikasa had never seen before. It was long, having taken up a good portion of the tree it was in, after all, as well as cylindrical in shape.

It also served to remind Mikasa, from its texture and the holes within it, of her mother's panty hose somehow. So did that mean… did that mean that there had been people out recently, to place the odd looking thing atop the tree?

Surely it was too well kept to have been outside for too long, after all. Aside from a few holes and stains here and there—where birds had surely opted to try and make it a part of their nest—it seemed to be in upstanding condition.

"Eren-" Mikasa choked, as she leaned forward to either reach for Eren or the material: or both, as she became very aware of the fact that the whole thing could have been a trap, and the net could have been secreting deadly toxins into her surrogate brother's skin at that very moment.

Looking at him with wide eyes, Mikasa moved to take Eren's charge away from him, but when he wouldn't have that—eyes blazing at her irritably, as he sidestepped her—she settled on just asking, "What _is_ that?!"

Something seemed to flash in Eren's eyes then, and Mikasa got the sense that even though he was currently only standing just a few inches away from her, that he was in fact miles away in reality.

Was he—was he remembering something again? Mikasa wondered on edge, as she tried to figure out how to get rid of the strange article, and to protect Eren from himself or any incoming danger. Was it possible that he was maybe remembering where his father was? Or-

Speaking in a grave tone, as if he were looking up from within his own tomb, or something, Eren's eyes skittered to the right—as he seemed to recall a memory—and he answered… "Long ago, I think people used these things to put caterpillars in to help them along in becoming butterflies. I think… it was meant to allow humans to protect and observe them as it happened. Though I have no idea where any of this information is coming from. It's— unsettling-"

Unsettling, too, was the way that the net seemed to billow out towards Eren's form, as if to remind Mikasa that he and it might have some sort of connection. He and the other Titan Shifters were very much like caterpillars in cocoons too, weren't they?

And just like that, Mikasa found herself furious that Levi had ever sent them on this mission. She had no doubt he'd suspected all along what they'd find, and that it was somehow connected to Eren. As if he didn't have enough things to worry about, Mikasa thought crossly.

"I wish that Hange had come to get this instead. Surely that one would have been excited about this all, and maybe even would have had an idea on what it's for."

Surprisingly, seeming to come out of his trance a little bit, Eren laughed at Mikasa's words and sternness. And saying what she knew she'd been secretly thinking as well, he agreed that, "I think… I think that the fact that Hange would be so intrigued, and probably reckless about this whole thing, is exactly _why_ we were sent here instead, Mikasa.

"Anyway… you should be happy, y'know? With this, maybe we'll find some more information on how one can change species. Or maybe this is a hint that there _are_ other people out here somewhere, fighting the good fight. In fact… this might be the first, best hope for humanity that we've gotten in a long time, right?"

Using Eren's current good mood as an incentive, Mikasa quickly went up to him and removed the item of his fascination from his hands: her own palms brushing against his mutely, just as she did so.

And though at first Mikasa had thought to put the net safely on a lower tree—so they'd know where it was, but without the chance of getting injured by it or destroying it themselves—the moment it caught a ray of moonlight, and became painted green in the lighting, Mikasa remembered the first time she'd ever met Eren.

As she'd imagined green sparks coming off of her—in the moment that she'd understood the world, and why it was you needed to fight for what was beautiful—she had decided that that moment in her life would always be the most important and most cherished.

Eren… what he'd taught her, and how he'd allowed her to survive, would always be the most important thing in Mikasa's world. And if now even the butterfly holder was making her think of that… maybe it had the same the same sort of role in all of this, as well.

Reaching out and taking Eren's hands in her own, something that was quick to stain Eren's cheeks a startling red, Mikasa listened to the surprisingly loud noises the net made as it banged against the tree, and in that she found her answer. "It does sound like the rage of humanity all rolled up into one, doesn't it? And if it is going to fight back against the Titans with us… I see no reason not to respect a fellow fighter's resolve. So, yes, I suppose the situation is hopeful for a change."

And even if it might have been a trick of the fire dancing in his eyes, Mikasa thought she saw Eren glancing at her in a way he never had before. And his eyes, too, seemed to turn just as green as the net had, and Mikasa had when she'd had her epiphany so long ago. At

And for the briefest of moments, and just the slightest bit, he smiled.

**Author's Note: First off, this is obviously going with the manga's coloring for Eren's features, with the gray eyes and black hair and all that.**

**And secondly… I have no idea where this came from. LOL. A prompt, maybe? I think it might have been, actually, and thankfully I think it came out really well. I could see the Butterfly Sanctuary having existed in the past before the Titans and, of course, everyone ending up forgetting about it because of the memory manipulation.**

**But, yeah. This piece is short and simple, but I like how it allows Eren and Mikasa to bond, and to come to a better place/understanding with each other. It also gives them a bit of hope for humanity, too.**

**And, of course, if you know me, I love parallels. So I love how the Butterfly Sanctuary not only references how the characters are trapped behind the walls, but how the Titan Shifters are similar to caterpillars, and how it even represents Mikasa's own transformation in character. Something she doesn't see, though, because it's through seeing how it relates to Eren that she becomes okay with it. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this short, peaceful piece I made for the SNK-verse (I think we all need that some times), as I enjoyed the HECK out of writing it;) **

**And I hope Laura especially loves this, as I wrote this for her birthday, and I know how she loves Mikasa and EreMika to pieces. (Which by the way, I hope I didn't butcher either the pairing or the characters here).**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURA! I hope you have a great day, as you truly deserve it, hon. And here's hoping we learn what's in Eren's basement sooner rather than later;)**

**Shutting up now.**

**-Shanna**

**P.S. For some reason, I'm imagining the characters' English voices in this mostly; probably because it's the most recent ones in my head, but is anyone else that way, too? :D**


End file.
